


Don't Fear The Reaper

by la_muerta



Series: The Hollow Crown [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Bastardizing Shakespeare, Bittersweet, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Crown Prince Alec Lightwood, F/M, Grim Reaper Magnus Bane, Humor, Lightwood Siblings Feels, Lightwood royal family, M/M, Minor Character Death, References to Hamlet, References to Macbeth, References to Shakespeare, Shakespeare Quotations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-03-29 23:03:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13937322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_muerta/pseuds/la_muerta
Summary: Alec Lightwood, Crown Prince of Idris, hated surprises and things not going according to plan. It was no wonder, then, that he was having possibly the worst day of his life. Firstly, he hadn't expected to die on the night before his coronation. Secondly, he hadn't expected the Grim Reaper to be quite so...sparkly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was based on [a prompt](http://otppurefuckingmagic.tumblr.com/post/145857806850/malec-fics-ill-never-write-but-want-to-read) by [otppurefuckingmagic](http://archiveofourown.org/users/otppurefuckingmagic) and was written as part of the [Shadowhunters Hiatus Big Bang](https://shhiatusbang.tumblr.com/). This is my first time participating in an event like this, and it was incredibly well-run and super fun - all thanks to our wonderful mod <3
> 
> Cover banner and scene art done by the amazingly talented [MichelleMisfit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichelleMisfit/pseuds/MichelleMisfit).
> 
> Beta-ed by the lovely [Lillithorn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillithorn)!
> 
> I am a big fan of Sir Terry Pratchett's work, and his version of Death is my favourite anthropomorphic personification. Some aspects of this fic were inspired by his work.

 

 

Alec woke up to find a strange man in his room. He was dressed in black from head to toe, standing in the shadows of the room, and the first thing Alec could think of was that he must be an assassin. Alec reached for the short dagger he kept under his pillow and flung it across the room with deadly accuracy - except that it seemed to sail right through the man's face, and bounced uselessly off the stone wall behind him.

The move with the dagger had been intended to buy Alec time, but he lost a few precious seconds wondering how the hell the man had dodged his dagger that quickly, before he came to his senses and reached for the hilt of the sword propped up by his bed. His hand went right through the hilt.

He tried again, but the same thing happened - twice. Alec stared at his hand, then at the sword disbelievingly.

"I'm surprised you managed to grab the dagger in the first place," the man in the shadows said conversationally. "Although it's been known to happen, especially when the soul hasn't quite realised yet that it has left its body."

Soul? Body? What nonsense was he going on about? Alec glared at the man. "How did you get into my room?"

"Ah. But I am the assassin against whom no lock will hold."

"So you _are_ an assassin," Alec said grimly, and called out loudly, "Guards! Guards!"

"They can't hear you, Alexander," the man said, not unkindly.

Of course - Alec was being stupid. His assassin must have incapacitated the guards, to be able to get in his room in the first place. Idris was not presently at war with any of its neighbouring kingdoms, but Alec had trained and groomed the guards that protected the royal family personally, and they were all fierce and loyal warriors. There was no way they had let an assassin into the room of the crown prince without putting up a fight, although it was odd in itself that Alec should have slept through the noise.

Since Alec couldn't seem to hold his sword, he tried to grab the next nearest thing - a heavy silver candlestick - but his hand went through that as well. The man sighed, and waved a bejewelled hand once in a graceful gesture, and the candlestick fell off the table and hit the floor with a loud clatter.

There was a knock on Alec's bedroom door almost immediately. "My liege?" someone called out from the other side of the heavy oak door, but before Alec could reply, a key clicked in the lock and the door swung open to reveal the chief of the royal guard, Sir Luke Garroway.

"Sir Luke, this man-" Alec began, but the knight ignored him, his normally keen gaze sliding right across Alec as if he weren't there.

Alec watched, befuddled, as the knight walked cautiously into the room, checking all the corners and behind the door quietly, and even opened Alec's wardrobe to stick a hand in as if to check that there was no one hiding inside, when Alec and the strange man were standing right there in front of him. Sir Luke gave Alec's bed a cursory glance, then picked up the candlestick and set it back on the table and left the room. Throughout this whole peculiar incident, the man had been looking at Alec with an expression of pity.

"What's going on? What are you - a sorcerer?" Alec asked, backing away from the man. 

The man shook his head and stepped out of the shadows, so that Alec could finally get a better look at him under the dim light of the waning moon. He was a handsome man with dark hair, and his eyes were painted with kohl so that they gave Alec the uncomfortable impression of a skull. He was as well-dressed as any of the royalty who attended Alec's court, in a fancy doublet which accentuated his narrow waist and broad shoulders, matching breeches, and a short cape fastened fashionably over one shoulder. Alec had assumed that the man's clothes were black, but now that the man had stepped into the light and Alec had taken a closer look, it was more of a very dark blue, shimmering with pinpoints of light like stars in the night sky.

 

**  
**

 

"I am Death," the man proclaimed.

"Death. With a capital 'D'," Alec said skeptically.

"There's a pun in there that I really shouldn't be making," the man claiming to be the Grim Reaper grinned cheekily.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Did my brother Jace send you in here as a joke? Because you can tell him that he's really not as funny as he thinks he is."

"I'm afraid I'm not joking, Alexander. At least not about who I am."

"So you're here to - what? Claim my soul?" Alec scoffed.

"Not to claim it, no. Just to help you move on."

"Well, then you can save yourself the trouble - I don't plan on dying, not tonight," Alec said haughtily.

"Strangely enough, no one ever does," the man murmured.

"Even if I do believe you, and you really are Death, I'm not going without a fight," Alec said, readying his fists.

"But you're already dead."

"Dead? I'm right here talking, and breathing-" Alec scowled.

"This is your soul, not your body. That's why you couldn't hold your sword, or the candlestick."

Alec remembered the way Sir Luke had glanced at his bed. He moved towards it, even as the man said, "No, Alexander, wait!"

And there he was, lying in his own bed, eyes closed and brows furrowed, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his own dark hair fanned out on the pillow. It was strange, like looking into a mirror but not. Alec could still see the subtle rise and fall of his chest underneath the covers. He lurched forward, half meaning to touch the thing lying in his bed to see if it was real or just an illusion, but thought better of it. There was a pulling in his gut that told him this was no illusion, and he didn't know if his hand would just pass through the flesh like so much smoke, or he would actually be able to touch it because it had once been his, and he didn't think he could stand it either way.

"But... I'm still breathing," he said.

"It's only a matter of time now," Death said, sounding a little sad. "Once the soul leaves, it's a sign that whatever ailed your body was irreparable."

Even as he spoke, Alec watched his own chest rise, then fall, then - no more. Just like that.

Death heaved a sigh of relief. "At least it seems you had a gentle death. I was worried - most souls usually find that the experience is a lot more... upsetting."

"I can't be dead. Tomorrow I was to become king," Alec said, his voice sounding far away even to his own ears. "I am a young man - only 20 years of age. Healthy, and fit. You must have made a mistake - you've reaped the wrong soul."

Death shook his head. "I am not the one who steals your breath. I am only here to observe, to witness. Your time ran out, and I was summoned. You must have been an extraordinary man in life, Alexander Gideon Lightwood - I am only called to attend personally on significant deaths."

"So I was destined to die tonight? That's what you're telling me this is?" Alec snarled.

"When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes," the man said softly, and nodded towards the open window.

Alec walked towards it as if in a dream, and saw that the sky was raining light - hundreds upon hundreds of shooting stars, falling through the darkness. The hour was late, and most of the people in the castle were asleep, but the night guards had noticed the odd going-ons in the sky and were looking out of the windows or milling out into the courtyard. Even from up here Alec could hear the growing wave of people gasping and speaking, a low murmur of wonder and fear at the sight.

"We should go," Death said, placing a comforting hand on Alec's shoulder. "I don't think you want to be here when your brother and sister come in to find you."

"Go where?" Alec asked dully, his heart clenching at the thought. Poor Izzy. She was still mourning the death of their youngest brother Max - and now this.

Death hesitated. "Well, this is highly irregular, but we've dawdled here a bit tonight, and I don't think we have the time for me to help you make sense of this properly. Come away with me, and we shall go somewhere quieter to talk."

Alec nodded, and let Death guide him towards the door. The key was already turning in the lock, and for a moment Alec wondered if his men would be able to walk right through him. Death seemed to sense his trepidation and pulled him aside to let the guards pass before they slipped out of the open door.

 

 

They moved against the tide of the crowd, not really keeping to the shadows but still unseen and unheard, and Alec recognised the path they were taking as leading to the stables.

"Do you have a name, or do I just call you Death?" Alec asked.

"A name?" Death look stunned, like he had never considered the possibility of having one. After a long while, he finally replied, "Why don't you call me... Magnus. Hmm. Yes, I think I rather like that name."

The night was turning slightly chilly, now that summer was giving way to autumn. Alec was barefoot and only dressed in a thin shirt and loose pants, but the chill did not - could not - touch him anymore. The stable smelled like animals and hay, and was kept warm for the sake of the horses. There was a stable-boy sound asleep in one of the empty stalls, but it was the hunting hounds that woke up and watched them with their lambent eyes, and the horses whinnied as they approached. Magnus led Alec up to an unfamiliar horse that bore no saddle or reins. It was a splendid animal, tall and proud with a light chestnut mane and tail but a paler body, but when it huffed Alec could see its breath condensing in a cloud.

"This is your horse? But... it looks like a normal horse," Alec said, bewildered.

"That’s because he _is_ a normal horse. Well, as normal as it gets for being Death's steed," Magnus said. "We have an understanding, him and I - he remains mortal, yet not. And he will remain frozen in time for as long as he serves me."

"I thought Death rode a pale horse of bone."

"A pale horse, yes, but it most certainly does not say 'bone' anywhere. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it would be to ride a horse of bone? But you're right about the colour, Trojan is really more of a strawberry roan."

"You named your horse 'Trojan'," Alec repeated, sounding unimpressed.

"You know, from the Greek-"

"Yes, I figured that out, thank you."

Magnus got on the horse easily despite the lack of stirrups, and held out a hand to help Alec up behind him. With nothing to hold on to, Alec was forced to place one hand on Magnus' shoulder - a hand that Magnus then shifted gently to his waist.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," Magnus promised him. "But it may be prudent to keep your hand on me - I have never brought a soul along with me before."

"Where are we going?" Alec asked.

"To my place, of course," Magnus replied, and gave the horse a nudge with his heel.

The horse whickered in response, and trotted out of the royal stables. Alec was going to ask how this worked - would a normal person see a riderless horse just walking out of the stables? But his question was lost when the horse suddenly picked up speed and galloped down the path towards the castle gates, where several guards were milling around. Nobody tried to stop them, although the guards moved out of the way, compelled by some deeper instinct, and Death's horse carried them out and towards the woods with long powerful strides.

The world blurred around Alec, and he unconsciously gripped Magnus a little tighter as the horse seemed to fly between the trees at a speed that would have been dangerous for any mortal creature, bringing them deeper and deeper into the forest where the oak and ash trees seemed to be towering ancient things, then up into the hills.

"Normally I can go back to my domain from anywhere I please," Magnus called over his shoulder. "But I thought that since I was bringing you, it would be safer to go through a place where the veil between the worlds is the thinnest."

When they reached the top of one hill, Alec saw that there was a circle of standing stones upon them. Magnus waved one arm in front of him, and the air between the stones seemed to shimmer - and the horse galloped through it.

 

 

Alec didn't know what he'd been expecting from the place that Death - well, not _lived_ , but spent his time when he wasn't out reaping the souls of the dead. Maybe something like a tomb, or the ruins of a castle. Instead, the horse stopped short in an enormous room filled with rows and rows of shelves. At first he thought they were in a library of some sort - then he realised that the shelves did not hold books, but hourglasses filled with shiny fine black sand.

Magnus leapt off the horse gracefully, and offered Alec a hand to help him down, but Alec shook his head and dismounted on his own. The horse barely seemed to have broken a sweat, despite how fast it had been running.

"I'm going to see to Trojan," Magnus said, indicating a set of doors that presumably led out to some sort of stable. Alec wondered if there was more to Death's house than just this room full of hourglasses - a garden? A kitchen? A bedroom? (Did Death even sleep?) "Make yourself at home," Magnus said, then seemed to realise that the room did not offer much in terms of hospitality - he waved a hand, and the room shifted to make way for a couple of squishy-looking highbacked chairs and a roaring fireplace. Magnus frowned and waved his hand again, and a low table appeared with two goblets of mead.

"I've observed that mortals generally think that it's polite to offer food and drink to guests," Magnus explained cheerfully. "Sit! But try not to touch any of the hourglasses," he added as an afterthought, and led the horse away.

Alec sat down gingerly on one of the chairs, but didn't touch the mead. He knew he was dead, he had seen the breath leave his body with his own eyes. But he was still irrationally reminded of that old Greek story, where someone had been captured by the god of the Underworld and had made the mistake of eating something while they were there, trapping themselves in the Underworld. After a few minutes, Alec stood up and opted to walk among the shelves instead. He kept a safe distance away, mindful of Magnus' warning not to touch them, and up close he could see that there were names at the base of every hourglass. They were all of the same size, but they all looked like they had started with varying amounts of sand to begin with. There seemed to be no discernible order in which the hourglasses were arranged.

He knew it was a bad idea the moment it entered his head, but he began to quicken his pace, scanning the shelves for familiar names - or two names in particular, really: Isabelle Sophia Lightwood and Jonathan Christopher Lightwood. There must have been millions of hourglasses on the shelves, but he managed to find their hourglasses in the end, sitting side by side. He had no point of reference, so he wasn't sure how long the remaining amount of sand indicated, but he couldn't help but feel that it didn't look like much was left in the top bulbs of either hourglass.

"Alexander?"

"Here," he responded, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Magnus appeared beside him almost immediately when he had only just heard his voice from across the room. "How the hell?!"

"This is my domain, remember? Space is irrelevant," Magnus said dismissively, and turned to read the names on the hourglasses Alec had been looking at. "Oh, Alexander," he sighed.

"How much time do they have left? A year? Two?" Alec pressed, and Magnus shook his head with pursed lips.

"What good will it do for you to know? Come, Alexander. We need to talk," Magnus said, placing a hand on Alec's arm and gently leading him back to the chairs in front of the fireplace. He gestured that Alec should take a seat, and threw himself down on the other chair. Alec couldn't help but notice that Magnus was wearing something entirely different now - something that looked more like the flowing robes he'd been expecting the Grim Reaper to be wearing, open partway to expose almost half his chest, and also made from that strange material that looked like the night sky. Perhaps he changed his clothes to match the customs of whoever he was meeting.

"I understand that you must have many questions, but I'm afraid I will not be able to answer most of them," Magnus said, sipping from his goblet. "I cannot tell you why you died, or what lies in the future of those you left behind."

"What about how I died?" Alec asked, the cogs in his head already turning.

"You were right that strapping young men like you don't just die for no reason. From the manner of your death, I would say you were poisoned," Magnus replied reluctantly.

Alec would have been crowned the rightful king of Idris tomorrow - it seemed reasonable to assume that whoever had murdered him had been vying for the throne. Alec would have been lying if he said he had not been expecting some attempt on his life. He had been so careful with whatever he ate or drank, and his guards had not let him out of sight for weeks, but still he had succumbed to the plot on his life at the last moment. With his younger brother Maxwell dead in a freak hunting accident, the next in line to the throne was the Duke of Lyn, Hodge Starkweather - an ambitious, unpleasant man who had a fondness for drink, women and drugs, a man entirely unfit to rule the country.

In his opinion, Isabelle would have been a far better ruler. Alec had planned to make that possible when he finally became king, to pass a law that allowed women to rule as well as men, but unfortunately all his careful plans would never come to pass now. Jace, who had been adopted and therefore not truly of the royal bloodline, could not rule Idris either. And yet it seemed that even though they did not stand in the way of Starkweather's quest to take over the throne, whatever was left of the Lightwood royal family would not live to see old age.

"Those hourglasses... is the amount of sand in them fixed? Is the length of every life predetermined and unchanging?" Alec asked.

"You are speaking of changing the course of the future," Magnus sighed. "I knew it was a bad idea to bring you here."

"But can it be done? Have you seen it happen?"

"Sometimes, the level of sand changes with different choices made," Magnus admitted.

"Then I have to try to warn Izzy and Jace," Alec said, mind made up.

"And how do you propose to do that?" Magnus asked gently.

"I'm a ghost now, am I not? Have there not been stories of spirits appearing to the ones they love, to communicate with them beyond the grave?"

"It's not as simple as you think, Alexander," Magnus said. "Remember how you couldn't touch anything, and your men could not see you? You are a soul, not yet a ghost; it can take years to figure out how to be one, and even then, there are precious few people who can actually see ghosts."

"I don't have years!" Alec said in frustration, then, "Can you teach me?" Alec asked.

"Teach you?" Magnus balked. "Alexander, you have no idea what you are asking, no idea of the price that you might have to pay."

"What do you mean?" Alec frowned.

"The mortal mind is not meant to withstand the ravages of eternity. If you become a ghost, if you learn to become more corporeal, the earthly ties that you cut when you died start to bind you again. It becomes harder to move on, and when a soul lingers for too long when it should have moved on, it becomes more and more confused," Magnus explained, fidgeting with one of his rings. It was odd to think of Death as having a nervous tic. "I wouldn't say that it turns evil, but more that it becomes feral. It forgets who it once was, and just becomes a hurting, wild thing."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Alec said grimly.

"Alexander, everybody dies, in the end. Let it go, and find your peace."

"This is bigger than me, or my siblings. If Hodge Starkweather becomes King of Idris, he will squander the wealth of the kingdom, and my people will suffer," Alec said fiercely. "You said you only come for significant deaths, but I have barely done anything with my life so far. Maybe this is it, don't you see? Maybe I was meant to die, and you were meant to bring me here, so that I could change the course of the future."

"I do not pretend to know anything about destiny or fate," Magnus said. "But I have never had an active part to play in any of it."

"Please, Magnus," Alec said, but Magnus shook his head regretfully.

Alec swallowed hard. As heir to the throne, he had been brought up to be proud, to never beg or bow his head to another. But he had also been brought up to be a leader - and sometimes that meant sacrifice for the sake of his people. He got down on one knee in front of Magnus and bowed his head low.

"I swear fealty to you," he said. "Help me, and I will be your faithful liegeman forevermore, yours to command for as long as you so desire. I swear this upon my very soul."

"Alexander!" Magnus said in shock.

"Please, Magnus," Alec repeated, his hands clenched into tight fists, and if he were still made of flesh and blood his nails would have cut into his palm. "I'm begging you."

Magnus placed a hand on his shoulder, gentle and surprisingly warm. "Very well, then," Magnus said gravely. "I accept."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are going to be many Shakespeare references, because I'm that kind of dork.
> 
> "When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes" is from _Julius Caesar_.


	2. Chapter 2

  

 

There was a small garden on the rooftop of one of the circular towers of the royal castle, which had been nicknamed the Queen's Garden because it was traditionally tended by the reigning queen. When Maryse Lightwood had been alive, it had been a neat and rigorously maintained little arrangement of boxwoods, flowering vines curled artistically round trellis frames, rock basins with little darting fishes, and bird baths. Since Alec was unmarried, when their mother passed, the tending of the Garden had fallen to Isabelle - who had as much interest in gardening as she did in cooking or sewing, which was to say none at all. In a short space of time, the entire place had been taken over by weeds, the boxwoods were long overgrown and the flowering vines strangled everything in their path. With autumn drawing near, the withering plants made the entire place look even more desolate.

Alec and Magnus had needed a secluded place in the castle for Alec to learn how to manifest himself, and to learn how to move objects despite having no physical form, and the Queen's Garden had been the first place that had come to Alec's mind. Magnus had said that ideally Alec should start practicing in places that were significant to him, because it would be easier for him to connect to the place. And since Alec couldn't exactly use his old bedroom - at least not yet, if they went according to Alec's plans - the Garden was the next best place, because Alec had come up here often enough when he had been alive, whenever he needed some peace and quiet.

"Let down your walls, Alexander," Magnus murmured in his ear. "I'm here, and I will not let any harm come to you."

Alec did not need to breathe anymore, but by force of habit he took a deep breath anyway. His eyes were closed, and as Magnus had instructed he tried to reach out with his mind to the things that surrounded him. The theory was that he should draw the energy from his surroundings since he had no living body of his own, and he would be able to use that energy to either make himself more visible, or use it to move objects with his mind. It might have been easier in a place with more living things, or a warmer place, but Alec had insisted that he didn't want to accidentally hurt someone or something, and everywhere in the castle was always cold anyway. The energy around him tingled as he drew it towards him, like dipping into a lukewarm bath. When he felt that he had drawn all that he could to him, Alec opened his eyes to look down at his hands, and sighed in frustration.

"It's not working, is it?" he asked Magnus.

"You're much better at it than when you started," Magnus said encouragingly.

It had been a week since Alec's death, but all he'd managed to achieve under Magnus' patient tutelage was a partially visible form. Moving things was completely out of the question.

"What am I doing wrong?" Alec asked.

"You're still holding back too much of yourself, thinking too much about the process rather than just letting it come to you naturally," Magnus explained. "This is why vengeful spirits are so much stronger and more easily visible - the rage takes over, and they just let go."

"Don't I count as a vengeful spirit? I was murdered in cold blood," Alec frowned.

"You are certainly the most in-control and rational vengeful spirit I have ever met," Magnus smiled.

"Perhaps if Hodge Starkweather ever shows his face around here, I shall be sufficiently angered to throw a pebble at his head," Alec muttered, and Magnus laughed.

Just then, the door to the Gardens creaked open, and a voice Alec did not quite recognise said, "Why is it so cold up here?"

Then the man turned towards Alec's direction, and Alec ducked behind the nearest tall object on instinct. Much to his surprise, the man froze, as if he had actually seen something. Alec recognised him as one of the travelling minstrels who were often invited to the castle to perform for the entertainment of the royal family and the court, although with the castle still in mourning for Alec, there should have been no such arrangements for merriment. And even if he had been invited to the castle, he had no business wandering into the Queen's Garden.

"Hello?" the minstrel called out nervously. "Is anybody there?"

For a moment, Alec was torn between wanting to answer, and wanting to keep himself hidden. He wanted to warn Jace and Izzy as soon as he could, but he wasn't ready, not by a long shot.

The minstrel lingered at the doorway, then muttered to himself, "I must be losing my mind," before turning to leave.

Acting on impulse, Alec moved out from behind the overgrown trellis that he had been hiding behind, and the minstrel must have caught the movement from the corner of his eye. He turned back around and stared at Alec, mouth dropping open - then he screamed and fled.

"It appears you are visible enough to be seen, after all," Magnus said. "Do you think he will tell anybody else?"

"He's a minstrel - they do nothing else but talk," Alec said.

"Then word should reach your siblings, and you may be able to speak to them sooner than you expected - but you seem troubled, instead of pleased," Magnus observed.

"I fear this will be a wasted opportunity, and I do not know how many chances I'll get at trying to reach them," Alec admitted. "Will I be able to speak plainly to them? It's just that, in stories the spirits always speak in riddles."

"It might not be a matter of choice. You've experienced how difficult it is to materialise and move things; making yourself heard is no easy matter either," Magnus shrugged. "I imagine a story in which the ghost appears but cannot speak or do anything would make for a very boring story. The stories you've heard have probably been greatly embellished in the telling."

"But if I can only appear to them and cannot communicate with them, what would be the point?" Alec fretted.

"Don't worry, Alexander. I will be right here with you. If it turns out that your siblings cannot see or hear you, I will try my best to help," Magnus assured him.

"But won't they be able to see _you_?" Alec frowned.

"Oh, darling - nobody ever _wants_ to see Death, so nobody ever sees me," Magnus laughed.

That seemed like a pity. It was ironic, but for someone who was death personified, Magnus had a sparkling personality and cheerful manner, and was always so lively. For the first time, Alec wondered if Death ever felt lonely.

  

  

It was strange, being Death's liegeman. Magnus had stopped Alec from calling him "my lord" early on, because he claimed to rather like the new name he had given himself and there was nobody else around to call him by it. He didn't need help getting dressed, or getting on his horse. He didn't need protection from anything or anyone, although he had given Alec a sword that seemed to have been carved out from the bone of a beast of monstrous proportions, since Alec could no longer hold any mortal-made blade. There wasn't even anything to clean or cook or sew. Alec's sole duty was taking care of Trojan, who did not require food or drink but seemed to appreciate being brushed down after being ridden.

Alec wondered how Magnus had passed the time before he had met Alec. He rode out occasionally to fulfil his duties as Death, but other than that his days must have been filled with nothing but the endless whispering of black sand falling through the hourglasses. Magnus certainly seemed inordinately pleased to finally have someone to play chess with, and sometimes they just sat in front of the fireplace while Magnus told Alec stories about people he had met over the centuries.

They returned to the Garden every day at the same time that the minstrel had caught sight of Alec to continue their lessons, reasoning that his siblings were most likely to try to catch a glimpse of Alec's ghost at the same time. They did not have long to wait - on the third day after their encounter with the minstrel, their lessons were once again interrupted by the creaking of the door, and a man walking cautiously into the Garden.

For a moment, Alec could barely recognise him. Jace had always worn his blond hair long, and to be honest was rather vain about it, but he had shorn his hair almost down to the scalp - a sign of deep mourning by Idris custom.

"Hello?" Jace called out. He spun around slowly, then said in a much lower voice, "Alec, if you really are here, please show yourself."

Alec stayed stock-still and out of sight, wanting to see how this was going to play out before he tried to appear before his brother.

As the minutes passed and nothing supernatural happened, Jace sat down hard on one of the stone benches, shoulders slumped. "I heard one of the minstrels in the hallway telling everyone he had seen a spirit that bore a remarkable resemblance to you stalking the Queen's Garden and I had to come see for myself. I should have known it was just a tall tale - the minstrels are always making up stories. It's just that - I miss you, my brother. Izzy hasn't been out of her room at all, she's been holed up in there crying, and won't take her meals, and I don't know what to do or who to talk to. I can't believe you're gone, just like that."

"The court physician said that your heart gave out from the strain of your grief for Max and the pressures of having to take on the responsibilities of the crown at such a young age, but I don't believe any of it," Jace whispered. "Something is rotten in all this business, I feel it in my gut."

Magnus gave Alec a nudge and an encouraging smile. Alec closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to open himself up to his surroundings. This time, perhaps motivated by the presence of his brother and the urgency of his cause, Alec found it much easier to draw the energy towards him. He heard Jace gasp, and his eyes flew open - Jace had jumped up from his seat and was looking around with wide eyes. His breath was coming out in white clouds, as if it was the middle of winter and not a slightly warm autumn night. All around Alec, the withering plants were bending under the weight of a sudden blight of frost.

"Alec?" Jace whispered.

Alec stepped out into view, and for a while Jace just stared at him in shock. Then, to Alec's puzzlement, Jace drew his sword and pointed it at Alec.

"What are you?" Jace demanded. "Are you really my brother's ghost, or a demon wearing his face? Answer me!"

Alec opened his mouth to speak, but felt himself flickering out of sight instead - it was taking all his concentration just to stay visible.

"If you cannot speak, give me a sign! Prove to me that you truly are my brother," Jace insisted, his grip on his sword tightening, and for a moment Alec wondered if Jace was going to try to stab him.

Alec held out a hand, indicating that Jace should keep his distance, and pulled up the edge of his shirt to reveal a tattoo - matching the one that Jace had on his flank - a rune that meant "brothers-in-arms" in some long-forgotten language they had seen in a book. They had gotten them together in a bout of youthful drunk recklessness one night when they had snuck out of the castle incognito to get drunk at the local tavern. It had been pure dumb luck that the tattooist had not recognised them as the Crown Prince and Prince Jonathan, or there would have been hell to pay. Nobody else knew about it except Izzy, and Izzy had been quite upset not to be included.

The sight of the tattoo took the wind out of Jace's sails. He dropped his sword. "Why does your restless spirit roam the castle, why aren't you at peace?" Jace asked him. "What unfinished business do you have? Are you worried about Izzy and me?"

Alec nodded.

Jace ran a hand through what was left of his blond hair and sighed. "We grieve, brother. But there's nothing you can do about that, short of the miracle of you coming back to life. I know you have always put our interests before your own, but-"

Alec shook his head in frustration and tried to shout, "You are both in danger!", but all it did was make him flicker in and out of sight, and Magnus winced at the volume.

Jace frowned. "What's going to happen to Izzy and I? Are we in danger?"

Alec nodded vehemently.

"What kind of danger?"

Alec huffed in frustration. Sometimes Jace really wasn't the sharpest blade in the weapons shed. Hadn't he realised by now that Alec couldn't make himself heard? Why couldn't he just stick to questions that Alec could answer by nodding or shaking his head? Now they were reduced to playing this strange game of charades. Alec hesitated, then drew his finger across his own throat.

Jace blanched. "Death? _Murder_? You think - no, you _know_ that Izzy and I are in danger of being murdered, and came to warn us. Did you, too, meet an untimely end at the hands of this unknown foe?" When Alec nodded, Jace cried out, "Tell me who this villain is, so that I may avenge you!"

If Alec had rolled his eyes any harder, they might have gotten stuck to the back of his skull. It was a good thing he no longer had a physical body. He looked towards Magnus in frustration, sending him a wordless plea for help, and Magnus snapped his fingers. A bright flash of lightning lit up the cloudless sky above. Jace flinched, and stared up in disbelief.

"What was that? An omen? A message?" Jace asked. "Why won't you speak to me?"

Alec shook his head helplessly. Magnus made the lightning flash across the sky again, and Jace jumped at the sudden clap of thunder that followed.

"Lightning," Jace suddenly said in comprehension. "That is the crest of Duke Starkweather. He arrives here, at the castle, in three days' time, in preparation for his coronation. Are you saying that he's the one behind this?"

Alec had meant to nod, but all of a sudden all the energy he had taken in gave out. He had not felt like this in all the previous times he had done this - like a warm tide had suddenly retreated, leaving him beached and gasping. He felt Magnus' arms around him at once, supporting him and gently leading him away from Jace's line of sight.

"I think you've pushed yourself a little bit too hard, Alexander," Magnus said, and made Alec sit on a bench next to some evergreen boxwoods - the entire pot withered in an instant, bending over with a thin layer of frost like it had had the life sucked out of it. Alec immediately felt a little bit better, which was worrisome, to say the least.

From where they were sitting, Alec could hear Jace calling out his name. "Do you think he got the message?"

"I'm sure he's got the gist of it. Now it's up to him to figure out how to protect himself and your sister. I think you've done all you could for them," Magnus said. "Are you satisfied now?"

Alec shot him a look through narrowed eyes. "Are you trying to convince me to move on again? I swore fealty to you, and I don't think I've properly held up my end of the bargain."

"So you intend to hang around until you feel you've repaid me enough?" Magnus asked. "If I remember correctly, the terms were for as long as _I_ so desired."

"You want me to go?" Alec asked quietly.

"It's not about what I _want_ , Alexander," Magnus said uneasily. "It's my duty to usher the souls of the dead into the next world."

"If you don't mind, I think I would like to hang around a little longer - at least until I'm sure they've stopped Starkweather," Alec said.

"Of course," Magnus agreed. "Just a little longer."

They watched Jace pacing around the Garden, muttering to himself. At one point, he picked up his sword and started waving it about while giving a long speech to the dying garden about fate and duty and brotherhood.

"All my waking thoughts and nightly dreams shall be of nothing except this meeting with you, my brother!" Jace proclaimed. "I wipe away all youthful pursuits, and dedicate myself to my revenge. I swear this with all the Host of Heaven and all the denizens of Hell as my witness!"

"Bit melodramatic, isn't he?" Magnus observed. 

  

 

Everyone in the castle had been busy for days, preparing for the arrival of the new king-in-waiting. Floors were scrubbed and every corner dusted of cobwebs, the window drapes changed and washed, decorative tapestries taken off their hangings and aired, livestock were slaughtered by the dozens and cooked in batches over the kitchen fires, and the head cook made a small mountain of dainty pastries that looked too pretty to eat. All the single ladies of the court had new dresses made, hoping to impress the new king-in-waiting and any prominent people in his entourage.

Alec watched all these going on from a series of secret passages and hidden hallways that he and his siblings had discovered as children. Although probably nobody would have noticed him anyway if he did not try to manifest himself, Alec had found the idea of people walking right through him very disturbing. There was also that strange business of the plants dying, which had unnerved Alec deeply. He had thought, when he had undertaken the risks to become a ghost, that the danger was only to his own immortal soul.

Magnus had explained that trying to hold on to the world of the living, even if Alec wasn't trying to do anything, required energy - energy that Alec himself now lacked. When he had pushed himself beyond his limits to communicate with Jace, Alec had needed more than the lingering warmth in the air to fuel himself, and that was how he had accidentally killed the plants. But if he could suck the life out of things without meaning to, what was going to stop him from doing the same to something bigger? Animals? People? It was no wonder, then, that Magnus had not been very keen on the idea of Alec lurking in the castle on his own - but Death had his own duties, and could not be playing nursemaid to a single wayward soul that refused to move on.

Besides, today was the day that Duke Starkweather was due to arrive. Alec _had_ to be here.

His first thought had been to check on Izzy and Jace. Jace's room had been empty, but as he drew near Izzy's, he heard the familiar voices of his siblings bickering. Izzy knew of this passageway that went past her room of course, so she'd blocked up the entrance with a heavy wardrobe. This technically didn't pose a problem for Alec, who knew he could walk through walls - but knowing something was possible and actually doing it were two different things altogether. Alec would settle for hearing their voices again.

"I don't believe in ghosts," Izzy was saying.

"A minstrel saw him! _I_ saw him, with my own two eyes!"

"You saw what you wanted to see. I miss him too, Jace. Grief is playing tricks on your mind."

"Forget it. What I came to tell you is - Alec says he was murdered on Starkweather's orders, and that we're next."

"I already knew that," Izzy sniffed. "Wasn't it obvious?"

"...it was?" Jace asked, flummoxed.

"Why do you think I've been hiding in my room and not taking my meals with everyone else?" Izzy huffed in irritation. "I've had my maidservant Clary preparing all my meals on her own and bringing them directly to me, so that nobody can slip poison in it. Same with your food - haven't you noticed at all?"

"Clary? Oh. Yes, I noticed her," Jace replied, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I did notice that she's always the one who serves me my meals now, but I thought... never mind."

"Alec has been expecting trouble since Max died. He never told us, but I could tell," Izzy said.

"So what do we do now?" Jace asked.

"We watch, and wait for Starkweather to make his move. It's not like we can accuse the king-in-waiting of murder without any proof - that would be high treason. In the meantime, just be extra careful."

Alec wanted to tell them that _that_ hadn't helped him. They had to do more than that - Alec strongly suspected that they had been betrayed, and that someone close to him, someone he had trusted, had been the one to slip him the poison. The problem was, Alec didn't know how the poison had found entry into his veins. Food and drink was the least likely, because he, too, had been served by Izzy's trusted maidservant Clary. It could have been anything - a pinprick from a carefully placed needle, something administered in his clothes or boots or bedclothes. This time, though, Izzy and Jace would have an extra pair of eyes watching out for them.

Alec was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the spider until it was right in front of his nose. The only problem with the secret passageways had always been the sheer volume of spiders that lived in there, and the fact that Alec was not overly fond of spiders.

Actually, that might have been a bit of an understatement. Alec was _terrified_ of spiders.

Alec backed away in a hurry and swatted the offending creature blindly, forgetting that spiders couldn't hurt a ghost and he had no physical form - except that in his panic, and his forgetfulness, he managed to slam his palm into the wall with enough force to rock the heavy wardrobe on the other side of the wall.

"Who goes there?!" Jace shouted immediately. There was a loud _thwack!_ and Jace yelped. "What was that for?"

"If someone is sneaking about in the secret passageways, do you honestly expect them to tell you their name?" Izzy hissed.

Alec stared at the spider on the floor. It was very dead - and frozen solid. The feeling of unease grew in his gut, but he knew he could not linger here - he did not want to be seen at the moment, and already he could hear the sounds of Jace and Izzy shifting the wardrobe aside. Alec hurried through the narrow passageway, and an icy wind raged through after him, freezing spiders and cobwebs in its wake.

 

 

Duke Starkweather arrived in the early evening with much fanfare, just in time for the feast. Alec's siblings had not had much time to search the maze of hidden passageways because they were expected to make an appearance, mourning or not - but Alec, who had been watching them from a distance, knew Jace had his suspicions, especially given the number of dead spiders and the lingering chill. Izzy shooed Jace away so Clary could help her get dressed, and Jace went off to his own room escorted by Alaric, one of the guards Alec knew to be loyal to Sir Luke Garroway.

From a window higher up that afforded him a good view of the courtyard, Alec watched Starkweather stroll pompously into the castle, surrounded by simpering nobles dressed in fine silks. He couldn't help but think that none of them looked like they had the brains or guts to sneak past Alec's guards. Even Starkweather's guards looked like they has been chosen mainly for the size of their muscles, and were little more than common thugs.  

Alec lurked in the kitchens after that, far from his siblings but still in place to look out for them in a way. It was so hot in the kitchen from all the fires and stoves that he didn't have to worry about freezing anything accidentally. He watched the staff getting the food ready to be served, the servants' children stealing fruits and sweet lemon cake when everybody was distracted. Clary came in shortly and prepared two plates of food carefully - mainly from the large common dishes meant for the lesser nobles, which were less likely to be spiked, but beautifully arranged to resemble anything that would have been served to the guests of honour. He followed her out and kept to the edges of the feasting and partying, eyes always on the high table at the head of the hall where Izzy and Jace sat.

When the feast was over and most of the castle had settled down to sleep, Alec prowled through the empty corridors between his siblings' rooms. Nothing seemed likely to happen tonight. He rounded a corner, and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Magnus," Alec said. "Why are you here? I thought we were only meeting tomorrow night for my lessons?" Then a chilling thought struck Alec. "Is it Izzy? Jace?"

"Neither. I was not required to attend to this death, but I thought you would want to speak with him," Magnus said grimly. "Come with me."

Sweeping soundlessly through the hallways, Magnus led Alec to Hodge Starkweather's room. His guards were sitting propped up against the walls and snoring, probably drunk senseless from all the wine at the feast. Magnus took Alec's hand gently, and Alec screwed his eyes shut and let Magnus lead him right through the door and into the room.

One look at Starkweather, and Alec knew he was dead. Unlike Alec, he had not had a gentle death - his face was twisted into a grimace of agony, eyes still open and staring at the ceiling. The spirit of Hodge Starkweather was just sitting up from his body, and startled to see Magnus and Alec standing at the foot of his bed.

Starkweather recognised Alec immediately and gasped, pointing an accusing finger at Alec. "You murdered me! One of my courtiers told me they'd heard a rumour that you were haunting the castle."

"No, I did not," Alec said in annoyance. "I'm just a ghost, how am I supposed to have murdered you? But since you seem to have something to be guilty about, did _you_ arrange to have me killed?"

"I swear it wasn't me who murdered you!" Starkweather cried, cowering under Alec's wrath. "Doesn't my death prove my innocence?"

"What do you remember?" Magnus asked Starkweather.

"I was sleeping, then there was a sharp pain in my leg..." Starkweather looked down. The bedclothes near his feet were still moving. As they watched, the lump moved towards the head of the bed, and Starkweather's spirit stumbled out of the bed in a hurry as the creature emerged from under the bedcovers - it was an adder, with red beady eyes and a row of black diamonds down the length of its sinuous body.

"Someone put an adder in his bed. It must be someone from within the castle, someone who knows their way around - maybe someone who knows about the secret passageways," Alec frowned.

"You'll catch them?" Starkweather asked. He was already starting to fade. "You'll avenge my death?"

"Of course," Alec said, and as he spoke Starkweather spun around and vanished. "Where did he go?"

"On," Magnus replied, gesturing vaguely.

"Why? Not that I would have enjoyed his company..." Alec said in confusion.

"Alexander, you underestimate your own tenacity," Magnus said, smiling fondly. "Not many souls are interested in sticking around, even if they died violent deaths."

"No, I suppose not. Otherwise I would have seen a lot more other ghosts around this old castle," Alec said, and Magnus nodded.

Alec and Magnus watched the adder, which was slithering down the bed and towards an open window. It didn't seem like very normal snake behaviour, but Alec was no expert.

"But if it wasn't Starkweather who had me murdered, who was it?" Alec muttered.

"Simple. Who's next in line to the throne now?" Magnus asked.

"Of course - how did I not see it before?" Alec finally said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "He was the one who brought Max out hunting, when Max met with that accident, but we never thought to suspect anything because his father died in the same accident, and he seemed so truly devastated... And he was invited as a guest to the castle often enough to know this place well. The next in line to the throne is our distant cousin and the new Marquis of Brocelind, Sebastian Morgenstern."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted on Friday (16th March). In the meantime, do read the other excellent fic from the other participants in the [SH Hiatus Bang](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShHiatusBang_2018)!


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

"Alexander, you must go soon," Magnus had said, when Alec told Magnus about him freezing the spiders. They were sitting in front of the fireplace, and Magnus was looking pensively into the fire instead of at Alec. "These lessons of ours, they have made you grow stronger too quickly. I warned you of the risks."

"But we thought he was our _friend_ , Magnus. Izzy and Jace will never suspect him," Alec said agitatedly. "This was a betrayal long planned."

"Then he is a patient man, willing to wait years for his plans to succeed. You do not have years, Alexander, or even months. If this goes on, you will become a danger to the very people you stayed behind to protect."

"I need to force his hand, then. Make him think that he must strike now," Alec said. But how? Even if he could tell his siblings to be wary of Sebastian, they would face the same problem they had had with Starkweather - not being able to accuse him of anything without proof.

"I have an idea," Magnus finally said. "My friend Catarina-"

"Your friend? Death has friends?" Alec interrupted.

"Don't be rude, Alexander. Everybody has friends," Magnus sniffed.

"Yes, but you're not exactly 'everybody'," Alec noted wryly. "How does one become friends with Death?"

"You may be my liegeman, but we are also friends, are we not?" Magnus asked.

"Alright - how does one of the _living_ become friends with Death?" Alec asked with a small smile.

"Catarina is a doctor. And sometimes she has to bargain with me, on behalf of her patients - to prolong their lives, or to have me take them away a little earlier so that they do not have to suffer," Magnus said. "I suppose over time we became friends, of sorts. But whatever it is, she certainly owes me several favours."

"I have never heard of a physician in the kingdom named Catarina - in fact, I never knew we had one who was a woman," Alec said. 

"Then perhaps you just don't know your kingdom as well as you thought you did," Magnus said. "We shall call on her at a more polite time. And in the meantime, it would probably be best if you did not leave my side to wander around alone again."

  

 

Magnus brought Alec to a small cottage deep in the woods surrounded by a grove of beech trees. The morning light filtered through the paper-thin leaves - light green and turning lemon-yellow with the changing of the seasons - giving the place an otherworldly feeling, like a cottage in a fairy tale.

"Wait - I know where this is. This is the home of the witch," Alec frowned.

"Yes, unfortunately that seems to be what your people call a woman who is accomplished in the medical arts," Magnus sniffed.

Alec secured Trojan at a spot where he could graze if he wanted to, and Magnus went up to the simple wooden front door and rapped smartly on it.

"Around the back!" a voice called.

They followed the direction of the voice and found a woman chopping wood into kindling. She was dressed in a simple ensemble of a belted long shirt and trousers, all in blue, and was at least twice Alec's age.

Catarina glanced up and paused briefly when she saw Magnus, then huffed impatiently and continued chopping up the wood. "Today is not convenient for me," she told Magnus briskly. "Mrs Blackthorn down in the village is expecting twins any day now, and I'll need time to tell Maia what needs to be done after I'm gone, but she's off seeing to old Mr Whitehall. Come back for me on Tuesday."

"Oh I'm not here for you, my dear," Magnus assured her. "I'm here to ask for a favour."

"A favour?" That got her attention. She looked at Alec. "And the Crown Prince's ghost with you as well. This should be interesting. Come into the house."

The interior of the house was simple but functional, not so much a home as a place to sleep when the day’s work was done. There was a pot of porridge on the fire, and a worn cloth bag bulging with bags of herbs and bottles of potions sitting by the door, in easy reach for Catarina to grab if she needed to leave at a moment’s notice. Catarina served them all tea with a slice of lemon in it, and ate her breakfast while Magnus explained the situation to her.

"I have heard of Lord Sebastian Morgenstern, of course. You may not know this, Your Highness, but his servants live in terror," Catarina said. "He has maimed more than one servant in a petty fit of anger, and his father only barely managed to keep any of it quiet. His mother, the late Lady Lilith, was originally a noble woman from the neighbouring kingdom Edom, you know. Rumour has it that his mother made him promise to seize the kingdom back from the current ruler, Azazel."

"Then he means to bring war to Idris," Alec said grimly.

"How do you intend to stop him, and how can I help?" Catarina asked.

"Our problem is twofold; Alec cannot communicate effectively with his siblings to warn them, and we need Sebastian Morgenstern to show his hand, and quickly," Magnus explained. "I think Prince Jonathan has proven to be more willing to believe in the existence of the supernatural, so if you could find a way to speak to him on Alec's behalf?"

"That can be done easily enough," Catarina agreed. "What about Lord Morgenstern?"

"I plan to send him false prophecy," Magnus said. "Make him think his plans have succeeded and will continue to succeed only if he acts now, and make him complacent, so that he will let his guard down and slip up."

"You want me to play the part of an actual witch?" Catarina asked, amused.

"Your reputation precedes you, after all," Magnus grinned. "And three witches - three is a magical number, is it not? I will provide the necessary weather effects, of course."

Catarina snorted but agreed to ask around for two more witches, then shooed them out because she had a long day ahead of her and her chores were not going to do themselves.

"You care about the boy," Catarina observed, while Alec was off fetching the horse.

Magnus shrugged. "He makes it easy to care about him."

"You do realise the folly of this," she said. "All souls must eventually go into the endless night."

"Oh, I know, my dear, believe me - I know," Magnus sighed. 

 

 

Alec did not know how many days passed thereafter, because the sun did not rise or set in Death's domain. For a lack of things to do, he spent the time practicing with the bone blade that Magnus had given him, cleaning out Trojan's stable even though it did not need cleaning, and dusting the shelves of hourglasses even though they did not need dusting. The amount of sand in Izzy's and Jace's hourglasses continued to dwindle, and he tried not to let his worry get the better of him. That was, until he noticed that the amount of sand in Jace's hourglass had suddenly dropped dramatically.

"Magnus!" Alec called out in alarm.

Magnus had been out in the stables with Trojan, about to leave for wherever he had to go, but stopped to wait for a panicked Alec when he saw him rushing out.

"What's wrong?" Magnus asked.

"It's Jace - I think Sebastian has changed his mind about something," Alec swallowed hard.

Magnus' face grew dark. "I will be back as soon as I can. It is time we called on Catarina again, I think."

When they arrived at Catarina's cottage, she was not alone. There was a young woman with her, and another slightly older woman who looked like she might be with child. "I've been expecting you," Catarina told them when she opened the door, and Alec wondered if she didn't actually have a bit of witch about her, after all.

"Who are you talking to?" the younger woman asked, puzzled. "There's nobody at the door."

"Death, and the late Crown Prince of Idris," the pregnant woman replied, and inclined her head to both Magnus and Alec.

"Dorothea," Magnus greeted her warmly. "I have not had to see you for many years now."

"It's good to meet you under more pleasant circumstances," Dorothea agreed with a smile.

"Uh. I'm Maia," the younger woman introduced herself, giving a small curtsey in the direction that Magnus and Alec were standing, but her eyes unfocused in a way that was clear that she could not see them.

"Maia is my protégé," Catarina explained. "I have found you your three witches. I assume we must go now - I hear that Lord Sebastian has invited Prince Jonathan out riding in Brocelind forest."

"Then we have no time to lose," Magnus agreed.

"But how are we to travel there? Brocelind is half a day's ride away," Alec asked. "Besides, we can't possibly all fit on Trojan."

"Trojan is not for mortal riders, Alexander," Magnus replied. "But if the three ladies could find something safe to sit on, I could summon a wind to carry all of you there."

And that was how Alec found himself clinging on to Magnus for dear life as they rode through the sky under the cover of a thunderstorm, with the three women flying in front of them under Magnus' watchful eye. Catarina's house was rather bare of material things, but she did have a couple of broomsticks and a shovel, so they rode on those instead. Brocelind forest was dense, with gnarled and ancient trees growing so close together that from above Alec saw it as a sea of green so dark it was almost black. It was a strange place to go riding, and Alec wondered why Jace had even accepted the invitation.

Magnus landed them in a small clearing, a small space barely big enough for Trojan to gallop around. Their three female companions were soaked to the bone and bedraggled, but they hardly seemed to mind. They had left the storm slightly behind them, but it was catching up and would soon be upon them again.

"How will we find them in this place?" Alec asked.

"That is easy enough for me. The three of you should stay here, I will bring Alec with me, and together we will lead them here," Magnus suggested, and Dorothea relayed his instructions to Maia.

"What do we tell them?" Maia asked. "We can't tell the future. Does Death...?"

"I don't know the future either. It doesn't matter - we just need to tell Sebastian what he wants to hear, and Jonathan what he needs to hear," Magnus shrugged.

"A lot like actual fortune-telling, then," Catarina said wryly. "Don't worry, I have given this some thought. You go ahead and lead them here while we prepare ourselves."

There was a vague path through the forest, cleared by some fearless soul many decades ago. The trees overhead were so close that no sun reached the forest floor, so no plants had grown to overtake it. Walking along the path was like walking through a gloomy tunnel, the trees on both sides closing in menacingly. Nothing living stirred. Magnus led Alec unerringly through the forest in calm and steady strides, and before long they heard the sound of voices.

"Seb, the storm is coming. We should turn back," a voice Alec recognised instantly as Jace's said.

"Just a little further, cousin," came the smooth tones of Sebastian Morgenstern.

"What is this thing that you wish to show me, anyway?"

"But telling you would spoil the surprise!"

Alec felt Magnus' hand on his back. He nodded, and took a deep breath - reaching out to that feeling of warmth surrounding him and pulling it in, and it was getting easier with each time he did it. The cold forest grew colder, just as Jace and Sebastian came into view on their horses, and Jace jerked on his steed's reins so hard that the horse whinnied in protest.

"Do you feel that?" Jace gasped.

"It is unseasonably cold, even with the storm coming," Sebastian agreed, frowning.

Alec stepped out from behind the trees - Jace's eyes immediately turned towards him, but Sebastian's did not, and Alec was delighted to find out that Sebastian was not one of those who could see ghosts. Jace paled, and Alec beckoned to him.

"Alec," Jace whispered, and Sebastian looked around wildly.

"Where?!"

"Do you not see him? He's standing right there, beyond those trees!"

Alec felt Magnus tug at his arm, and they hurried away immediately, towards where Catarina, Dorothea and Maia were lying in wait.

"We must follow him!" Jace shouted, and before Sebastian could do anything to stop him, Jace was spurring his horse after Alec's retreating form.

Alec and Magnus ducked back out of sight just before they reached the clearing - the three ladies were already standing in the middle of the path. They had used their bedraggled appearance from flying through the storm to their advantage, pulling their hair over their faces so that they were partially obscured, and were holding themselves in hunched postures like wizened old crones. The two men on horseback stopped short in surprise, and Magnus snapped his fingers - lightning flashed overhead, and the horses skittered nervously.

"Who are these women, so wild in their attire, standing in the middle of a forest path?" Jace said in surprise. "Speak, if you can! What are you? Why did my brother's spirit lead us to you?"

"Hail Lord Morgenstern, Marquis of Brocelind and King hereafter!" Maia spoke first, making her usually warm voice high and screechy.

"Hail Lord Morgenstern! Be bloody, bold, and resolute, for no man of woman-born can harm you!" Dorothea said.

"Hail Lord Morgenstern! Who will only be vanquished if Death himself commands it!" Catarina added.

"I'm sure that last one can easily be arranged," Magnus murmured to Alec in amusement.

Sebastian was the first to recover from his shock. "Good tidings indeed," he said, with a raised eyebrow. "I certainly hope you speak the truth."

"But what about my brother?" Jace asked. "Why is his spirit here, so far away from home?"

"Beware, Prince Jonathan! We only have one warning for you - beware, for the devil walks among you!" Catarina said. Then lightning struck a tree just beside the horses, and while the two men were preoccupied with the frightened horses and the burning tree, Catarina and the other two women scrambled out of sight to hide amongst the trees.

They waited till after the men had gone to come out of hiding, and Alec immediately went up to Catarina, frowning. "That was not a clear message at all! How is Jace supposed to figure out that Sebastian is the one who's been plotting against my family?"

"Now, now, Alexander - Sebastian was standing right there," Magnus pointed out gently.

"Morgenstern means 'morning star', as in 'How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning,'" Catarina said calmly. "It was the most oblique way I could think of to reference Lord Morgenstern. But never fear - if need be, I will seek audience with Prince Jonathan again at another time."

"But there might not be another time!" Alec fumed, and the temperature around them dropped suddenly.

Magnus placed his hand on Alec's arm, a grounding presence that immediately distracted Alec from his anger. He held out his other hand, and an hourglass appeared in his open palm - there was a slightly healthier amount of sand in the top bulb again. "I think your brother is safe, for now."

"Could we go back now? Being out in the cold isn't good for Dorothea and the baby," Maia piped up.

"Rest easy, Your Highness - I have my own eyes and ears in the castle," Catarina assured Alec. "How did you think I knew that your brother was out riding with Lord Morgenstern?"

Alec narrowed his eyes at her. "You are not all what you seem."

Catarina smiled at him, and didn't bother answering.

 

 

Hoping to distract Alec from worrying about the fate of his siblings, Magnus began to bring Alec along on his trips. All his life, Alec had never stepped out of the borders of Idris before, had never imagined having the opportunity to see more of the world - because he was to be king one day, and kings did not have the luxury of travelling the world. And while these trips with Magnus were not exactly leisure trips, Alec guiltily found himself distracted, if only for a while. They went to the Imperial Palace in Japan one night, and a simple village in Prague the next morning; an opulent mansion in Marrakesh one day, and a hut made from mud and twigs in Africa on another. (And if Magnus was obviously taking a roundabout scenic route to his destination, neither of them mentioned it.) Alec stayed outside with Magnus' horse because the recently-deceased soul was confused and frightened enough as it was, and did not need the complication of trying to understand why Death had a liegeman. But it seemed that if Magnus only came for significant deaths, then these deaths were of a great variety of people - rich and poor, royalty and common man - and sometimes even animals. Alec couldn't understand how these people were chosen, and Magnus couldn't or wouldn't explain.

And at the start and end of every day, Magnus would bring Alec to drop by Catarina's house to ask if she had any word on what was going on in the castle. By the second day, Catarina had taken to taping a piece of paper to her front door with the simple message: "No."

They were sitting in front of the fire, playing a game of chess Alec’s heart was not really in, when Alec finally asked, "Could we go by the castle tomorrow? I know it's a lot to ask, and I have no right to-"

"Of course we can," Magnus replied gently. "They are the sole reason why you linger on, after all."

Alec surprised himself by replying, "Not the _sole_ reason."

Truth be told, Alec couldn't help but notice that Magnus had stopped reminding Alec that the souls of the dead were meant to move on, and he had started wondering what would happen to Magnus when Alec finally left. Who would play chess with him in his lonely domain? Who would be around to witness the twinkle in his eyes when he laughed, who would Magnus tell his stories to, and who would sit here opposite Magnus as time stretched out into the infinite?

Alec owed Magnus a debt he could never truly repay, for allowing Alec this indulgence of reaching beyond the grave to try and upset the inexorable wheels of Fate and Fortune. And perhaps that was not a bad thing, if it meant that Alec would have to stay here a little longer.

"How did you become Death?" Alec asked.

Magnus looked back at him contemplatively. "I suppose I always was. From the beginning, from the first time life drew its first breath - but I wasn't always like this. I think the correct question may be how did Death become _me_ \- and I'm afraid I don't rightly know the answer to that."

"Do you feel the way mortals feel?" Alec blurted out, then fumbled, stuttering, "I'm sorry, that was too forward of me."

"Never apologise for curiosity, Alexander," Magnus said fondly. "Perhaps it was because I took on a form, and with it, came feelings. And yes, I do feel - joy and sorrow, likes and dislikes - but as Death, my feelings are of no consequence to anybody."

"I'm afraid I understand that only too well," Alec admitted. "Idris is peaceful, and I had hoped that I would never need to marry for a diplomatic alliance. I had planned, when I became king, to make it possible for women to rule - so that Izzy, or her children, could reign when I passed without an heir."

"You planned to remain alone all your life?" Magnus asked softly.

Alec ducked his head. "Any queen I took would be queen in name only - and I didn't want to doom someone to a marriage where I could never truly do my duty to her as a husband." Alec hesitated, then continued, "You see, by Idris custom, a man may not have any relations with another man outside of the bonds of friendship, or brotherhood."

"I see," Magnus said, turning one of the many rings on his fingers. "That seems like a pity."

"I admit I thought the same about you," Alec said quietly. "I should hate that you be lonely."

Magnus smiled a little wistfully. "In the past, I have sought out the company of the living to assuage my loneliness. Some I spent a night or two with. Others I visited over the years, and one I even gave a token to, so that she would never age and die... But I fear that I did not know what loneliness truly meant until I realised that you would have to leave me."

"Magnus, don't say that," Alec said quietly. "I am nothing to you, my leaving should not cause you pain. You are my master, and I am only your liegeman."

Magnus looked pained and opened his mouth to speak, when he stopped in surprise. He was glowing, a faint red glow that immediately made Alec's hackles rise. A myriad of emotions flashed across Magnus' face with quicksilver speed - surprise, fear, then anger.

"Catarina," Magnus had time to say, before the red glow around him burned brighter for a split second, then seemed to swallow Magnus into nothingness.

"Magnus!" Alec cried out in shock. For a moment he sat there staring at the place where Magnus had vanished, unable to believe his eyes.

But Magnus was the Grim Reaper himself! What could possibly have power over Death? He had assumed Magnus was self-sufficient and powerful, untouchable - to have this once-unassailable fact so rudely disproved left Alec reeling.

And had Magnus actually just accused _Catarina_ of doing this to him? Alec knew only too well the sting of a betrayal at the hands of someone who was supposed to be a friend.

Alec gathered himself, jaw clenched as he checked that his blade was firmly attached to his belt, then went out to fetch Trojan. He had never ridden the horse on his own, but Trojan, too, seemed to sense that something was amiss, and whickered restlessly at Alec.

"Could you bring me to Catarina?" Alec asked as he swung himself up on its back, and the horse broke into a gallop, picking up speed as it dashed through the veil between the worlds to land with what should have been a bone-jarring thud on the path just round the corner from Catarina's little cottage.

The night sky was cloudless, the moon almost full and hanging low on the horizon. Alec dismounted in one smooth movement, his bone blade already out of its sheath as he strolled towards Catarina's door, and walked through it without blinking an eye. The layout of the house was simple, and Alec found the bedroom easily enough. He was certain that he had made no noise, but Catarina sat up in bed suddenly, her eyes fixing on him.

"Your Highness, what-"

"Where is Magnus, and what have you done to him?" Alec snarled, pointing his blade at her heart.

"Magnus?" Catarina frowned in confusion. Her breath came out in a huff of white, and she pulled her blankets closer to herself absentmindedly.

"Death," Alec explained impatiently, and Catarina's eyebrows rose.

"I have been in bed for at least an hour. I'm afraid I do not understand what you are accusing me of," she replied calmly.

"Save me your lies. He spoke your name just before he vanished," Alec spat out.

"Vanished?! What do you mean?" Catarina looked worried now, and quickly got out of bed, ignoring the blade still pointed at her. "Tell me everything, from the beginning."

Seeing that Alec was still staring at her distrustfully, she sighed. "I know you have no reason to trust me, Your Highness. But I assure you whatever happened to Death was not of my doing. I am a doctor, not a witch - even if I do have my... ways. Perhaps Death spoke my name because he hoped I could help you make sense of what happened."

Alec grudgingly lowered his sword, but kept it in his hand as he described what had happened to Magnus.

"Oh, this is bad," Catarina sighed. "If Death is gone, I don't know who is going to fulfil his duties."

"How can he be _gone_?" Alec snapped. "That’s like saying the stars have ceased to shine, or the sun will no longer rise and set."

"This is the realm of magic, Your Highness. I am not any more well-versed in this than you are. But I do know someone who is," Catarina said, shrugging on a coat. "Let's go and get Death back."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted on Sunday (18th March). In the meantime, do read the other excellent fic from the other participants in the [SH Hiatus Bang](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShHiatusBang_2018)!


	4. Chapter 4

 

Since Magnus' horse could not bear any mortal rider, Catarina borrowed a horse from someone in the village who owed her a favour, and together they rode into the hills where the sorcerer was supposed to live. At first, Alec was sure they had come to the wrong place - there was nothing on the top of the hill but a rundown little stone cottage, half the roof caved in from years of neglect, and the front door missing. It didn't look like anybody lived there.

Catarina got off her horse and gestured that Alec should dismount as well. "He won't take kindly to us barging in like this."

"I'm already dead, what's the worst he could do to me?" Alec asked stonily.

Catarina sighed. "You do want him to help us find Death, don't you? It would not do to anger him - and he is not a patient man."

Alec nodded once curtly, and got off Trojan, murmuring to the horse in a low voice and staying close to it in case he had to make a quick escape. He let Catarina approach the door of the cottage first, still wary of her intentions. For all he knew, the sorcerer did have a way to capture ghosts, and she had led him here in an attempt to trap him so that he could not go to Magnus' rescue.

Catarina seemed to take this in her stride, and rapped smartly on the empty doorframe. "Ragnor? It's Catarina."

"Not that I'm not pleased to see you, Catarina, but couldn't you at least come after the sun is up?" a voice said from behind Alec, and his hand dropped to his bone blade as he whipped around in surprise.

There was a man standing behind them, looking for all the world like he had just stepped out of thin air. He was perhaps slightly older than Catarina, and was wearing a thick green cloak over his clothes. He looked unimpressed by Alec's move to reach for his weapon, and looked like he was about to say something very nasty about it until he spotted Trojan.

"And whoever you are, you'd best put that horse back where you found it," the sorcerer said.

"This is the ghost of the late Crown Prince of Idris," Catarina said, sounding vaguely exasperated. "Don't you recognise him?"

"What use are kings to me?" Ragnor said, waving a hand dismissively. "They die so quickly, it would be a waste of time to remember them - one has barely had time to warm his seat before someone else takes him out with some murderous plot or other. A violent, tedious business." He squinted at Alec. "A ghost, did you say? Why does he have Death's horse?"

"I am Death's liegeman," Alec replied.

"Promised your immortal soul to Death? I'm surprised he accepted. Obviously your deal was not for you to become king, since you're dead and Catarina says you're still only the Crown Prince. I hope the girl or riches you wanted in exchange were worth it."

"My deal was for neither - I swore fealty to him in exchange for a chance to save my siblings' lives," Alec replied stiffly.

"Gah! Noble intentions! That's even worse," Ragnor grumbled. "Why are you on my doorstep, then, if you already have Death on your side?"

"He's gone - Death's gone," Catarina explained. "Could we talk further inside? The manner of his disappearance seems suspicious, and I fear we may be overheard by unfriendly ears."

"Murderous plots," Ragnor sighed. "Once you get mixed up in royalty, there are always murderous plots. Fine, fine." He waved a hand, and Alec felt as if the world tilted, then shrugged, and dumped him unceremoniously into a fussy over-stuffed armchair with an alarmingly bold argyle pattern.

Alec struggled to sit up and looked around him - he was in a cosy, cluttered room with a roaring fireplace, a lone lemon sitting inexplicably on the mantle, a number of squishy armchairs similar to the one he was in, and a low table with a very flowery tea set. Death's horse was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Trojan?"

"Trojan? _Trojan?!_ " Ragnor muttered, pinching his nose-bridge. "That is an appalling name for a horse, even by Death’s standards."

"You know him?" Alec asked uncertainly.

"He's _Death_. Everybody knows him."

"No, I mean... as a friend."

Ragnor eyed him suspiciously. "Catarina, where in the world did you find this boy? He is obviously addled in the head - spouting nonsense about me being Death's _friend_?"

"As I recall, you were friends very briefly," Catarina said wryly, already busying herself with the teapot and cups.

"Ancient history," Ragnor sniffed.

"Ten years ago," Catarina translated for Alec. "They had an argument over a game of chess, and haven't spoken to each other since."

"Anyway, don't worry about the horse. He is perfectly happy - I've put him the stable I made for him ages ago. Although if I'd known that he had been named 'Trojan', I would have certainly liberated him from Death's care back then," Ragnor said. "Now, explain what exactly you mean by Death being gone."

Alec tried to lay the facts bare, tried to leave out the terror he had felt and the panic and anger in the aftermath of Magnus' disappearance. Despite his best efforts, the room began to grow colder, the fire in the fireplace starting to sputter and sway under the force of an invisible gale. Alec didn't miss the look Ragnor and Catarina exchanged with each other. But maybe Alec didn't want to care - he wanted to feel angry, if being angry was going to be what it took to get Magnus back, if being angry would give him the strength to snap Sebastian Morgenstern's treacherous neck.

"Well," Ragnor said, clearing his throat. "It sounds like Death might have been summoned. It is not unheard of."

"Why would anybody want to summon Death?" Alec frowned.

"My best guess is that someone seeks to control Death," Ragnor said delicately. "People get confused - they think that if they can control Death, they can prevent someone from dying, or order the death of someone, when it doesn't work that way at all. As I understand it, Death is merely there as a witness, and to help the souls cross to the next world. The only result the summoner is going to get from this is a lot of confused spirits."

"To control Death?" Catarina suddenly said, turning pale. "Oh dear. This is all my fault."

Alec reached for the handle of his blade immediately. "What do you mean?" he asked coldly.

"The false prophecy I gave Lord Morgenstern!" she said. "I said he would only be vanquished if Death himself commanded it."

"So you think that this Morgenstern person has captured Death to prevent the prophecy from coming true?" Ragnor frowned. "But he is human, is he not? Unless..."

"Unless what?" Alec barked, rapidly losing his patience.

"The spell to summon and bind Death must not have been a simple one. Only a very powerful sorcerer could have managed it, and even then they would have needed something that belonged to Death, or something that was important to him."

"Magnus - Death - did mention that he gave a token to someone, so that they would not age or die," Alec remembered suddenly.

"Then the rumours are true," Ragnor murmured. At Alec's stormy expression, he hastened to explain, "Many years ago, a sorceress named Camille boasted to have caught Death's fancy, and obtained a precious gem from him that gave her immortality. I never did ask him about it, even when we were friendly."

"You think that perhaps Lord Morgenstern hired her to help him bind Death," Catarina filled in.

"Where is this sorceress?" Alec demanded, already getting out of his seat.

"Sit back down, boy - this isn't the kind of thing you rush into without a plan," Ragnor scowled. "Camille is powerful, old, and wily. Don't think that just because you're dead you have nothing to lose. Besides, the rest of us would quite like to live out our natural lives."

"And if she is conspiring with the new king-in-waiting, together they are likely to be a formidable foe," Catarina agreed.

"Fine. Then let's come up with a plan, and quickly," Alec snapped. In his haste to rescue Magnus, he hadn't thought to check on Izzy's and Jace's hourglasses before he had left Magnus' home. And he had no doubt that if Sebastian had Magnus in his control, Sebastian would be moving in for the kill. It was time to put an end to this.

 

 

The plan was simple. Much like Ragnor, the sorceress Camille had made her home impenetrable to anyone who did not have her express permission to enter. Since they suspected Camille of being in cahoots with Lord Morgenstern, Ragnor had done a clever spell that made Catarina look like Sebastian. Catarina would lure Camille out, and Ragnor would overpower her outside the safety of her lair. Alec’s only role in this was to stick with Death's horse and stay out of sight under the shadow of the many trees that surrounded the sorceress’s tower.

Unfortunately, all their planning seemed to have been for naught; the grand black tower that was the home of the sorceress stood there in plain sight somewhere in the heart of Brocelind forest.

"Is she dead?" Catarina-as-Sebastian asked as Ragnor offered a hand to help her off her horse. Alec tried not to grind his teeth; Ragnor's spell was powerful, and it had been very disconcerting to see Sebastian riding with them on the way here.

"I wish - except that it would beg the question of who might have done the deed," Ragnor said. "Let's try not to get our hopes up."

Alec took the lead, and Ragnor gave in without bothering to argue, although the sorcerer did insist on going ahead of Catarina. They approached the tower cautiously, but met no obstacles when they made their way through the gate, or even when they entered the front door of the sorceress's lair, which swung open far too easily. Inside the tower was utter chaos: pages ripped from ancient tomes and strewn all over the floor, bottles of god-knows-what shattered like they had been thrown against the walls, shelves emptied and furniture knocked over. The heavy carpet on the floor was soaked with a noxious mixture of fluids, and several of the broken bottles looked like they had once contained monstrous or deformed things, long dead and rotten, and for once Alec was glad that he no longer needed to breathe. It looked as if someone had been looking for something. As they picked their way through the mess, Alec wondered who would have dared to attack a powerful sorceress, and how dangerous they must be to have obviously succeeded.

There was a steep stairway leading to the top of the tower. Alec approached it cautiously, following the trail of destruction, and right at the top of the stairs was a room in similar disarray - a lady's bedchambers, Alec judged, from the sparkling jewellery and rich clothing spilling everywhere across the luxurious bedspread. Ragnor stepped through the doorway, sounding slightly winded, followed by Catarina, when the wardrobe in the corner burst open, and an old woman rushed out at Catarina with a blood-curdling shriek.

"Betrayer!" she snarled, gnarled fingers like talons reaching out to claw at Catarina's face.

Catarina gave a shout of surprise as the old woman pounced at her, and flailed as she lost her balance at the top of the stairs and fell backwards. Alec dashed forward, but Ragnor was faster - with a wave of his hands, he pulled Catarina back from what would surely have been a deadly fall, then threw a pulse of magic that sent the old woman sprawling away from them.

"Ragnor? Ragnor Fell?" the old woman's wizened face was twisted with rage. She held out a hand, as if to send out a retaliatory shot of magic, but all that happened was a weak flicker of energy that crackled uselessly around her fingers. "You old fool! Don't be taken in by him!"

Ragnor frowned, and with a snap of his fingers, the spell he had cast on Catarina's appearance dissipated like so much smoke, returning her to her normal appearance.

The old woman stared. "Who are you?"

In the meantime, Ragnor was looking very closely at the old woman. She might have been beautiful decades ago. Through her haggard appearance and sunken flesh, and wrinkled skin hanging loosely from her face and body, Alec could still see the vestiges of high cheekbones and delicate features, and large eyes now misted over with age. Her heavy red silk gown, cut low in a style that would have been more appropriate for a much younger woman, hung from her frame like sagging drapery.

"Camille? Well, I wish I could say the years have been kind to you, but... " Ragnor smirked.

The sorceress bared her teeth at him, clearly unamused by his mockery. "Oh, you laugh now. What I am, you will be."

"In due time, I'm sure," Ragnor agreed. "But I didn't spend the last seventy years boasting that I would never age or die. What happened to you?"

"Sebastian Morgenstern," Camille hissed, spitting his name like a curse. "He came to me, promised to make me his queen if I helped him become the King of Idris."

"So you helped him murder me," Alec said coldly, and for the first time the sorceress seemed to see him clearly.

"Your Highness," she said breathily, then cackled, head thrown back like a mad thing. "So the rumours were true! The ghost of the Crown Prince walks the earth still!"

Alec growled and drew his bone blade. All of a sudden, the temperature in the tower room dropped, tendrils of frost curling up the stone walls. "I should slit your treacherous throat," Alec said, his voice barely audible above the icy wind whipping through the room.

Catarina and Ragnor had ducked into a corner of the room, trying to find shelter from the violent tempest, but Camille rose from where she had fallen, her frail body buffeted by the wind, and walked towards Alec with her head held high.

"Do it!" she goaded. "Kill me! It would be a mercy for me now - he took the gem, and with it all the strength and power of my youth!"

"No, Your Highness! We need answers, and she's the only one who holds the key," Catarina shouted. "If you kill her now, we may never find out how to release Death from her spell!"

_Magnus_.

Alec swallowed and tried to rein in the anger, but it was like trying to step out of a raging river. Before, when he had first started learning how to use his powers, reaching out for the warmth in the room had been a slow and gradual thing. Now it was like falling into a riptide that pulled him under, like a heat wave that suffused him and burst out of him in a blast of cold he could barely control.

"Your Highness!" There was a note of desperation in Catarina's voice now, and maybe that was what finally pulled him back. He closed his eyes and thought of Magnus - his warm eyes, his voice, his laugh, his gentle touch - and with great effort, he forced the fury down, and the gale in the room stopped abruptly.

When he opened his eyes, he found Catarina and Ragnor huddled in a corner, Ragnor eyeing him warily even as his hands glowed with a warming spell. The sorceress was sitting in a heap on the floor, half frozen and shivering, her eyes already rolling backwards into her skull.

"Quick, we must revive her," Catarina said briskly.

Catarina sent Alec to look for drinkable alcohol in the tower, and with the combined efforts of Ragnor's magic and Catarina piling Camille with thick furs from the wardrobe, they managed to get her conscious. However, Camille remained stubbornly silent.

"Talk, wretch - or I'll give you a fate worse than death," Alec said icily. He wasn't a cruel man, or at least he didn't think he was - but every minute that the sorceress refused to give them the answers was another chip away at his self-restraint.

"There is nothing worse than this state I'm in," Camille said sullenly.

"Really? Let's see how you fare without an arm, or a leg - or perhaps the Crown Prince might freeze your nose off for you," Ragnor snapped.

The threat to her already damaged looks seemed to do the trick - Camille's eyes widened, and she looked imploringly at Catarina. "You wouldn't let them hurt an old lady, would you?"

Catarina snorted, unimpressed. "Then answer our questions. Do you admit to having a hand in the plot to assassinate the Crown Prince?"

"Oh, the Crown Prince did not die by my hand," Camille said, her lips tilting in a cruel smile. "Sebastian Morgenstern bragged often that he had planted a viper in the bosom of the royal family. But I did lend him my pet adder to do away with Hodge Starkweather."

Alec remembered that - the strange way the snake had behaved. But who was Sebastian's other conspirator? "And Death? What did you do to him?"

"Sebastian Morgenstern came to me yesterday with a strange tale - that he had been given three prophecies by three witches in a forest path, even though I told him that no mere witches would dare encroach on Brocelind forest, which everyone knows is my territory," Camille replied. "The first prophecy is already coming to pass - he is to be crowned King of Idris in a fortnight. The second, that no man of woman-born could harm him, he took to mean that his only enemy was Prince Jonathan, since it is common knowledge that the prince was ripped from his mother's womb after her death, and therefore not properly born. The last, though, confused him - that he would only be defeated at Death's command. He thought it was a figure of speech, until I told him that Death had a real, actual form."

"Let me guess - you used your gift from Death to summon and bind Death, then this Morgenstern person stole the gem from you, and all the years of your life that the gem kept away from you came crashing down all at once," Ragnor said. "With the way you go on bragging about it, I'm surprised this didn't happen to you sooner, to be honest."

Camille glared at Ragnor, gnashing her teeth. "You're just jealous that Death didn't favour you the way he did me! I know he used to visit you."

Ragnor looked at her disdainfully. "No, I just never asked anything from him, other than for him to stop cheating at chess."

"Does this mean that as long as Lord Morgenstern possesses the gem, he will not age or die - even if Death was not bound to him?" Catarina asked.

Ragnor nodded. "It would seem so."

"How do we break the spell?" Alec interrupted.

"Destroy the gem, and you destroy the bind," Camille said. "But it is no ordinary gem - it cannot be damaged by any weapon made by mortal hands."

"Well, then isn't it lucky that we have a weapon here that _isn't_ made by mortal hands," Ragnor observed, looking at Alec's bone sword with renewed interest.

"Now that Sebastian believes himself invincible, surely he will try to kill Jace," Alec said. "We must make our way to the castle immediately. Sebastian already has at least a half-day's lead on us."

"Wait! But what about me?" Camille wailed.

Catarina, Ragnor and Alec, who were already halfway to the door, turned back to stare at her incredulously.

"You'll get to enjoy the rest of your life, old age and all, like the rest of us hopefully will - begging His Highness's pardon," Ragnor said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a murderous plot to thwart."

 

 

"Is there a quiet place where we could speak to Prince Jonathan safely?" Catarina asked Alec as they rode towards the back gates of the castle, the entrance generally used by servants.

"Yes, the Queen's Garden. That's where I was spotted the first time, so I'm sure there are rumours that I haunt the place now," Alec said.

"That may work in our favour or not, either keeping people away or drawing anybody who believes the stories," Catarina frowned.

The servants' entrance was a small gate, and not nearly as heavily guarded since it led to a the small town just beyond the castle walls. The town was the home of the families of the guards and servants and then some, with small shops that provided for these families and a bazaar where anybody with a blanket and something to sell could travel here from anywhere in the kingdom and declare himself a merchant. Alec and Trojan were invisible, of course, but he couldn't help noticing some of the men doffing their hats and the women curtseying when Catarina passed, although there were also some who made the sign to ward off the evil eye.

When they reached the gate, two guards Alec didn't recognise other than being familiar fixtures about the castle nodded at Catarina and simply stood aside to let her horse pass.

"I did not realise it was so easy for strangers to walk in and out of the castle," Alec frowned.

Catarina looked amused. "Never fear, Your Highness. You must remember - I am a doctor. And although I do not require my patients to pay me in coin if they cannot afford to, I still have basic needs. So they pay me in kind, with things like food and clothing... or favours."

Alec wondered how many in the castle, or in the town, owed Catarina enough favours that she could stage an uprising if she ever got the idea in her head.

When they reached the stables, Ragnor and Alec saw to the horses while Catarina found someone to send word to Jace to ask him to go up to the Queen's Garden. The sun was already setting on the horizon, the orange sky fading to dusky blue - they had already lost one precious day. Under the light of the dying day, the Garden seemed even more gloomy than Alec remembered it, half-dead and choked with weeds as it was, but Catarina seemed disturbed far beyond that.

"Are you sure nobody else comes up here?"

"I am the only person who ever comes up here, even when I was alive. The Garden is not open to most people anyway - I doubt that any living soul other than Jace has been up here except by accident, like that minstrel who first spotted me," Alec said. "Why do you ask?"

"These aren't weeds," Catarina said gravely, indicating the plants growing haphazardly amongst the previously neatly groomed pots. "Belladonna, henbane, hemlock, foxglove, wolf's bane... this is a poisoner's workshop."

"So you think the conspirator Camille mentioned is someone who comes up here often?" Alec asked, trying to remember some detail that could help Jace identify the minstrel, but coming up blank - some cheerful, unassuming face, which truthfully were probably very advantageous attributes for an assassin.

There were footsteps on the stairs that led to the Garden, then voices, one of them female - then the door opened, and out walked Isabelle's maidservant Clary and the minstrel they had just been discussing. "You have to tell me if he is here, Simon," Clary was saying, then they turned and spotted Catarina and Ragnor standing in the middle of the Garden.

"Who are you?" she asked, hand dropping to her belt - had Isabelle started having her maidservant carry weapons, now? "How did you get in here?"

"I'm guessing they're here with the Crown Prince," the minstrel said in a faint voice.

"He's here?" Clary's arm dropped to her side, empty-handed. The fear on her face was evident, but still she walked towards them. Ragnor raised a hand, ready to use his magic against her, but she didn't seem fazed by the hostile movement.

"She's my sister's maidservant. She has been with Isabelle for many years now, and Isabelle trusts her completely," Alec hastened to reassure Catarina and Ragnor. Surely having one more person on their side, who could help them foil Sebastian's plans, would be useful. After all, Clary was well-placed to help them - nobody would think to suspect a servant.

When she was a few feet away from Ragnor and Catarina, she asked, "Are you here to stop Sebastian Morgenstern?"

Alec frowned. How had Clary known about Sebastian Morgenstern's plans? Had Jace actually been able to decode Catarina's cryptic warning about Sebastian, and warned Isabelle in turn?

"And what about you? Are you here to aid Lord Sebastian in his cause, or to hinder it?" Catarina challenged.

Clary took a deep breath, dropped to her knees, then removed the dagger hidden in her belt and threw it on the floor so that it skidded across the cold stone and clattered against Catarina's shoe.

"Clary, what are you doing?" the minstrel - Simon - cried out.

Clary lifted her chin and looked Catarina in the eye. "I am the bastard child of Lord Valentine Morgenstern, and Sebastian's half-sister. I was his poisoner, and his dagger, and it was I who murdered the Crown Prince on the night before his coronation."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter goes up tomorrow, just before the Season 3 premier!


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Alec gaped at her in shock for a moment, then drew his blade and snarled, "We trusted you! Izzy treated you like a sister!"

The minstrel, Simon, dashed forward and threw himself in front of Clary. "She didn't have a choice! Lord Sebastian has imprisoned Clary's mother in his dungeons, you see," he said in a trembling voice, his eyes fixed on the sharp point of the bone blade, which was barely an inch from his nose. While Clary couldn't see Alec or the blade in his hand, she seemed to have figured out what was going on and was trying to pull her friend away from the invisible threat.

"Wait - Your Highness, hear her out. It seems that there is more to her story than meets the eye," Catarina said.

But before Alec could reply, the door to the Garden opened once again, and this time it was Jace who stumbled forward, followed by a guard whom Alec recognised as being part of the royal family's personal guard, a quiet, steady man named Raphael who kept to himself for the most part.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Catarina. I met Miss Clary on the way to find Prince Jonathan as you'd instructed, and she misled me," Raphael said.

"What's going on?" Jace demanded, taking in the scene before him.

"Prince Jonathan, I-" Clary began, tears forming in her eyes.

"I thought I told you to call me Jace," Jace rebuked her gently, then looked hard at Catarina, Ragnor, then Alec. "I am beginning to suspect that you are more foul fiend than truly the spirit of my brother. Thrice now I have seen you, and every time seems more suspicious than the last. Sebastian warned me, that some sorcerers could summon a spirit and control it, make it do things for evil ends..."

"Oh, Your Highness- Jace... Sebastian is not your friend," Clary said urgently, then more softly. " _I_ am not your friend."

"How so?" Jace frowned.

"I- I killed your brother," Clary whispered. "On Sebastian's orders."

Jace stared at her, face turning pale. "You did what?"

"I thought I didn't have a choice," Clary said. "But then he sent me a message today telling me that I was to kill you and Izzy as well, and I couldn't. I _couldn't_. I will be his weapon no longer."

Jaws clenching, Jace took one look at Alec's stony expression, and drew his own sword, mirroring Alec's position. For a moment Alec thought Jace intended to fight _him_ because of this traitorous servant girl with whom Alec knew Jace was infatuated with, futile as it would have been to fight a ghost.

After several tense minutes, Jace dropped his sword hand. "My only love, sprung from my only hate!" Jace cried out. "Oh God, forgive me, Alec - I cannot do it. I cannot kill her."

Jace bowed his head, hiding his expression from everyone, then finally said in a hard voice, "Clary Fray, with all here bearing witness, do you confess to high treason against the kingdom of Idris, and to the murder of my brother, the Crown Prince?"

"I do."

"And you confess also to the plot to murder me and my sister, Lady Isabelle?"

"I do."

 

It was like a mockery of wedding vows, and Alec's heart hurt on behalf of his brother, who must have wished to marry this girl someday. 

"You will be sent to the dungeons, to await your death by the law of Idris when Lord Sebastian Morgenstern is also captured," Jace said, every syllable filled with pain. "May the Lord have mercy upon your soul." 

"But my mother... Please, you have to rescue her. She is innocent in all of this," Clary pleaded.

Jace hesitated, then nodded grimly. "You have my word."

Clary sighed in relief and closed her eyes, a tear flowing down her cheek. "If Sebastian finds out that I have been arrested..."

"He arrives at the castle tomorrow. I think we can keep this quiet for a day," Jace said. He nodded at Raphael, who moved forward to put a hand on Clary, when the minstrel put an arm around Clary.

"If you are arresting Clary, then you must arrest me too. I knew what was going on, but I never told anybody. I'm as good as an accomplice."

"Simon, no!" Clary shook her head, but her friend remained steadfast by her side.

"You're my best friend. Wherever you go, I go, Fray."

"Fine. Arrest the minstrel as well," Jace barked.

Simon and Clary walked towards Raphael, providing no resistance, although Simon did glare at Raphael when he attempted to put a hand on Clary's arm. "We're not going to run." Raphael raised an eyebrow but did not comment, and indicated that they should walk ahead of him.

When Raphael had finally left with his two prisoners, Jace dropped his shoulders like the effort of standing was too much for him, his face falling into weary lines and dark shadows. Alec wished he could comfort his brother with a hand on his shoulder, but all he could do was send Jace a sympathetic look.

"Let's go to Izzy," Jace said dully. "I think she's going to want to hear about this." 

 

 

Izzy was skeptical at first, then pained when she learned of Clary's betrayal. Unlike Alec, she also seemed to know exactly who Catarina was. A war council was hastily convened between Izzy, Ragnor, Catarina, and Alec (with Catarina acting as his conduit), and they decided the crux of the matter lay in finding the location of the gem which had granted Sebastian control over Death. It was decided that Alec, Catarina and Ragnor would use the hidden passageways throughout the castle to watch Sebastian and find out where he had kept the gem, which would no doubt be somewhere on his person. After that, all they had to do was create an opportunity for Alec to smash the gem with his blade, and they would be able to convict Sebastian with Clary's testimonial.

Izzy arranged for the best rooms, reserved for visiting royalty, to be prepared for Ragnor and Catarina, but called Catarina back before they could leave.

"I apologise, Mistress Loss. You must be exhausted. But I was wondering if you could help me - I would like to speak to my brother, but as he cannot seem to speak to Jace, and I am not even blessed with the sight..." Izzy trailed off sadly, shivering despite the many layers of thick furs she had piled on because Alec's presence in the room had made the room so cold that even the roaring fire in the fireplace had little effect. Jace hadn't moved from his seat in their war council the whole time, and barely looked up at the mention of his name.

"Call me Catarina, please. And it's no problem at all," Catarina assured her, smiling at Ragnor and indicating that he should go ahead without her.

"Alec," Izzy said, addressing the chair she knew he was sitting in, and Alec was horrified to see that she was crying, now that she didn't have to hold her head high and pretend everything was under control. "You wouldn't have died if I had realised who Clary really was. I let her in, I trusted her - I was the one who asked her to serve you your food - I as good as handed her the dagger-"

"Izzy, no," Alec began, pained that he couldn't comfort her in her sorrow either. He hadn't felt this powerless since he had become a ghost.

Luckily, Izzy's tears were enough to draw Jace out of his own misery. Jace got up wordlessly to hug her, and exchanged a look with Alec.

"Nobody blames you, least of all Alec," Jace said. "We were all taken in."

"What are we to do, after we have executed Sebastian?" Izzy said, wiping her tears away. "Our people cannot be without a king, and he is the last in the line of the royal family."

"Not the last - and nobody would make a better ruler than you, Izzy," Alec said, but when Catarina conveyed Alec's message, Izzy just shook her head.

"I couldn't be. I am a woman."

"There were new laws that I meant to pass - the scrolls are still in my study," Alec said.

Catarina hummed. "If I may be so forward as to suggest it, Lady Isabelle - I think that if you expose the full extent of Sebastian Morgenstern's crimes, of his intentions to war with Edom, and with your brother's wishes clearly spelled out in writing, the people might be persuaded to accept you as their Queen."

"Do you really think so?"

"You are kind and intelligent, and your love for the people of Idris is known throughout the kingdom - why wouldn't they love you back?" Alec said.

Catarina smiled. "Your brother certainly seems to think you would be up to the task. It is only right, after all, for the rightful, if uncrowned king to name his successor. If you are willing to take up the mantle, of course."

Izzy looked at her, wide eyed. "I will consider it," Izzy finally said. "We should not count our chickens before they are hatched, and Sebastian is not properly dealt with yet."

"A wise decision, My Lady," Catarina agreed, and Alec could not help but think that Izzy had made herself a very powerful ally.

 

 

Alec spent the night sitting outside Izzy's door despite the constant presence of the royal guard, not convinced that Clary had been the only spy Sebastian had planted in their midst, then spent the rest of the day trailing her as an extra guard. The chill that followed him worked to his advantage for once - because his sister knew he was there, and was comforted, even if it meant she had to wear an unseasonable fur coat around the castle.

When the trumpets sounded announcing Sebastian's arrival, Jace went out to greet their cousin, and Alec saw that they would not have to resort to trickery to find out where the gem was, after all - in his arrogance, Sebastian had worn it around his neck, in plain sight.

What was worrying, though, was that Sebastian immediately requested that Izzy come to him and seek private audience. There was no graceful way for Izzy to decline.

"It could work in our favour, Izzy," Jace pointed out when he came to pass her Sebastian's message. "We could have him cornered."

With Catarina pretending to be Izzy's new maidservant, and Ragnor (very grudgingly) dressed as a guard, they went to the room where Sebastian was waiting, but Sebastian didn't even raise an eyebrow when Jace locked and barred the door behind them. Sebastian looked around at the hostile faces surrounding him - Jace, Izzy, Ragnor, and Catarina - and laughed.

"I see my coward of a half-sister gave the game away, in the end," he said.

"Coward? She gave herself up, knowing it would mean her death. You went about in the shadows using assassins and magic tricks - who are you to talk about courage?" Jace seethed.

"Using assassins and magic tricks, as you call it, is _politics_ , dear cousin. How inconvenient that she fell in love with an oaf like you, and stopped being useful," Sebastian wrinkled his nose. "But I suppose it doesn't matter, anyway. It's far too cold in this room - Alec's ghost is in here somewhere, isn't he? Then you should know that I am invincible now. With Death at my command, nobody can touch me. I suggest you all surrender - I might find it in my heart to give all of you quick deaths."

"It's five of us against one of you - do you honestly think it will be difficult for us to hold you down and take that stupid gem hanging around your neck from you?" Jace said.

"Oh, but I'm not alone," Sebastian smirked, and grasped the gem at his throat - there was a bright pulse of red light, and Magnus materialised right next to Sebastian.

Alec's heart stuttered to see Magnus, even though it had been barely two days since he had seen him last. Magnus' expression was stormy, and it did not escape Alec's notice that there were shackles on Magnus' wrist - two bands of red bronze joined by a length of chain.

"So what if you have Death under your control? You can't make him kill someone - that's not how it works," Ragnor scoffed.  

"Believe me, I have not been idle since I enslaved Death," Sebastian said smugly. "He isn't meant to take spirits which are not meant to leave yet, no - but that doesn't mean he cannot hurt the living. I have tested his powers extensively on the servants. Would you like a demonstration?"

Magnus closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

"Let's start with my dear cousin Jace, shall we?" Sebastian said cheerfully. "How well do you think he will fare if he is struck by lightning?"

Everybody backed away from the nearest window - except Alec, who was looking at Magnus, because Magnus had just tilted his head a little bit, as if asking Alec to get closer to the window...

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sebastian barked at Magnus.

"As you wish," Magnus replied sardonically, and snapped his fingers.

Lightning burst across the clear blue sky outside, a blinding tendril of it crashing through the window as if to reach for Jace, and Alec jumped right in front of it on instinct, trying to shield his brother. But instead of going right through him, the lightning hit Alec in the chest and crackled through him like a lick of wildfire.

It was like being lit up from the inside. If taking in the heat from the room had felt like stepping into a raging river before this, having pure energy coursing through him like this was like becoming a storm personified. Alec raised one of his own hands in horror and amazement, watching the lightning flaring through it like his skin was made of glass.

"Alec!" Izzy gasped. "I can see him!"

"What have you done?" Sebastian screamed at Magnus, but Magnus wasn't paying attention to him - he was smiling at Alec with wild delight, and Alec knew what he had to do.

He charged at Sebastian with sparks flying from his bone blade. Sebastian scrambled out of the way and tried to push Izzy in front of him, but all he got for his troubles was a hard kick in the groin. Unfortunately, he still managed to roll out of the way when Alec's blade came down. He drew a short sword from his belt when he came up and tried to grab Catarina instead, possibly intending to use her as a shield, and Ragnor sent out a blast of magic - but it barely seemed to touch him, although it managed to knock the sword out of his hand. Jace drew his own sword and leapt into the fray, but when his blade came down on Sebastian's shoulder, there was a sharp snapping sound, and the sword simply broke.

"I'm really invincible," Sebastian said with breathless wonder, then stood up straighter. "Behold! No mortal blade or magic can touch me!" He looked around the room with cruel eyes. "My first act as king will be to have all of you flayed alive, and your bodies strung up at the crossroads."

Alec scowled, brows furrowed in concentration, and drove his blade forward. His aim was true - the tip of his sword pierced through the heart of the jewel hanging from Sebastian's throat. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen - then the gem shattered. A pulse of bright red light seemed to explode from it, knocking everyone in the room except Magnus and Alec to the floor.

There was a sharp metallic tinkling sound as the shackles on Magnus' wrist broke in half, and Magnus smiled humourlessly at Sebastian. Sebastian gulped audibly. The shadows in the room seemed to grow darker and Magnus' face more skull-like, and Alec thought that if anybody in the room had ever forgotten that Death could be cold and merciless, they certainly wouldn't be forgetting it again.

"You can't- you can't kill me," Sebastian stuttered. "I made you show me my hourglass, and it isn't my time yet."

"The amount of sand in the hourglass is not fixed. Do you remember the last prophecy you received, Sebastian Morgenstern?" Magnus asked, his voice deceptively light. "The witches told you that you would only be vanquished if Death himself commanded it - and words have power, whether we intend them to or not," he said with a look at Catarina that was both fond and exasperated.

"And who would you command?" Sebastian countered.

"Alexander, if you please," Magnus said, with a wave of his hand.

"With pleasure, my liege," Alec replied with grim satisfaction, advancing on Sebastian.

"The prophecy said that no man of woman-born can harm me!" Sebastian protested, backing away.

"And I am no longer a man - only a ghost," Alec replied, and sliced off Sebastian Morgenstern's head.

There was an odd moment where there seemed to be two Sebastians overlapping in one place - the body and the spirit - then the two heads, one solid and one ghostly, rolled off his neck in separate directions to land in two different places.

"That's interesting," Magnus said as the ghostly head faded into nothing. "It appears, Alexander, that you have managed to destroy his immortal soul as well."

"He is dead," Izzy said in amazement and horror. "The last in the line of the royal family is dead."

Alec smiled at her. "Yes, he is dead - but the royal line is hardly ended."

To Izzy's surprise, everyone in the room save Magnus went down on one knee, with both Alec and Jace beaming proudly up at her. 

"All hail Isabelle Lightwood - the new Queen of Idris," Alec announced with a smile. 

 

**  
**

Izzy's coronation would probably be the talk of the kingdom and go down in minstrels' songs for centuries to come. After all, it wasn't often that the ghost of the murdered Crown Prince made an appearance to name his sister as his successor to the throne, after he had supposedly slain the traitorous usurper with his own hands.

In the joyous rejoicing that followed, Alec sat in a balcony that had been set aside for him, invisible to most mortal eyes again after Magnus had drawn the lightning out of him. Every now and then, one of the revellers in the coronation feast would sneak a glance his way, perhaps hoping for a glimpse of the ghost that was rumoured to be sitting there watching the people celebrate his sister's coronation. But as he watched the people in the Great Hall eating, drinking and making merry, Alec found himself starkly reminded that this was no longer his place - food and drink would no longer pass his lips, and he would no longer hold Izzy's hand to lead her in a dance.  

He felt Magnus standing behind him before he saw him - just moments before, he had seen Magnus at Catarina and Ragnor's table, bickering with the sorcerer about something or other again, because Ragnor didn't care if he looked like a mad man arguing with thin air.

"I hear your sister decided to sentence Clary Fray and Simon Lewis to exile, rather than put them to death," Magnus said.

Alec shrugged. "She loved Clary, and Clary loved her. Clary was misused by Sebastian, as much as any of us. I do not think Clary will pose a threat to Izzy, even though she has been allowed to live."

"You are not angry that your siblings found it impossible to avenge your death, because they loved your murderer?" Magnus asked, but from the smile in his voice Alec knew that Magnus already knew him too well to expect him to be truly angry.

"Clary did not kill me out of spite or malice. She was only thinking of protecting her mother. I, too, would do anything to protect my family," Alec shrugged. "My only regret is that the love Izzy and Jace bore for Clary means that they must be hurt by her banishment as well."

Magnus cleared his throat. "Are you satisfied that you have thwarted the disaster that would have otherwise befallen your kingdom and your family? Your sister reigns as queen, as you had hoped, and your people will be well cared for under her rule."

"I think I have done the best I can for them, given that I am already dead," Alec said. "Those that I have left behind must fight their own battles now."

"On that, we are finally in accord. Do you remember the terms of our bargain, Alexander?" Magnus asked him quietly. "I think we have both fulfilled the terms we agreed on, don't you think?"

Alec looked at Magnus with wide eyes, and saw then what Magnus planned to do. _Stop_ , Alec wanted to say, but he knew there was no use trying to dissuade Magnus. His family was safe, and he had repaid his life debt to Magnus by freeing him from Sebastian's control.

"I release you from your bonds of service to me, Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Magnus said gently but firmly. "You are free to move on to the next world."

And the deed was done.

 

****

 

They rode into the hills one last time on Trojan's back, past the towering oak and ash trees that surrounded the circle of standing stones Magnus had brought Alec through the night of Alec's death. Magnus offered a hand to help Alec off the horse, and this time Alec took it, if only so that he could feel the touch of Magnus' hand one last time.

Under the light of the waning moon, Magnus looked all the more otherworldly, the planes and curves of his face thrown into stark lines of moonlight and shadow. He smiled at Alec, a small tight smile that did nothing to erase the sorrow in his eyes, and Alec tried to smile back but couldn't.

Alec removed the bone blade from his belt and offered it hilt-first to Magnus. Magnus accepted it solemnly, and the moment he touched it, Alec saw that it transformed itself into the shape of a scythe before Magnus banished it somewhere with a wave of his hand. Magnus turned to face the stones, and with another wave of his hand, the air between the stones seemed to shimmer - but instead of the portal into Magnus' domain that Alec was so used to, this portal widened and spread into a perfect circle just big enough for Alec to walk through, and beyond it Alec saw the inky blue of a night sky above a desert of black sand.

"So I guess this is it," Alec said.

"Yes," Magnus agreed reluctantly.

They stood together on the threshold of the swirling portal. The fine black sand, the same sand that flowed in the hourglasses on Magnus' shelves, spilled out onto the grass beneath their feet. The black desert seemed to go on forever, without end, and the sky above it was filled with stars arranged in constellations Alec did not recognise. It should have been terrifying, this alien lonely landscape - but when Alec looked out upon it, he felt a pull deep inside him, an urge to find out what was on the other side.

"What's across the desert?" Alec asked.

"I don't know either. The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns, and all that," Magnus shrugged elegantly.

"But you're Death!"

"And I have never died," Magnus reminded him gently.

"If I leave... is it really true that no soul ever returns? Can we not be born again, to live, love and laugh, and then die again?" Alec asked.

Magnus' eyes met his then, and in them he saw the smallest glimmer of tentative hope and surprise. "Some do, and some don't. I do not know how or why they do," Magnus admitted.

"Maybe it's because they have something to come back to," Alec said. "I would live and die a thousand times, if it meant I would get to see you again at the end of it all."

Magnus smiled a little sadly. "And I would wait a thousand lifetimes for you, until the world itself comes to an end."

Alec couldn't have stopped himself any more than he could have stopped time - he leaned forward to press a kiss to Magnus' lips, and to his amazement, Magnus' lips parted to draw him in, their lips fitting together perfectly. It was like kissing the stars, like becoming part of the infinite. If Alec had still needed to breathe it would have stolen his breath; if his eyes had been open he thought he might have been able to see into the secrets of the universe. But then the kiss ended, as inevitably as it had begun.

"I don't want to go," Alec said, his lips barely an inch away from Magnus' - but a distance that seemed insurmountable now.

"And I don't want you to go," Magnus confessed, and brushed Alec's cheek with his thumb. "But I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here, if you choose to return."

Alec swallowed hard, then reluctantly took a step back from Magnus, then another - the hand that had been on Alec’s cheek falling slowly back to Magnus' side. Alec's next step took him through the portal, onto the black sand. Then Alec took the last step back, both feet now firmly through the portal, eyes still on Magnus, and the portal began to close.

"Magnus," Alec whispered, and the last thing he saw was Magnus trying to smile at him, his beautiful eyes swimming with unshed tears.

And then he was all alone, with the feeling of Magnus' lips burned into his skin like a brand. Alec stood there for a moment longer, eyes still searching for where the portal had been; then he wiped his eyes and squared his shoulders to face the long walk across the shifting black sand. The sooner he got to the other side, wherever that was, the sooner he could do whatever he needed to do to see Magnus again.

Alec took a deep breath, and started walking.

**  
**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> I _swear_ I tried to write a happier ending for them. After I'd written this ending, I sat on it for a week trying to write a different one, but Magnus was being all noble and shit and wouldn't let me. _*grumbles_ wayward characters _grumbles*_
> 
> Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this fic, and feel free to come holler at me on tumblr @la-muerta!
> 
> Until next time, XOXO.
> 
>  
> 
> **Update:** There's a sequel now! And yes, I suppose Magnus allowed me to write a more hopeful ending for them after I gave them a bit more story to tie up the loose ends ;)


End file.
